1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to database generation and data stream transmission, and more particularly to biased data stream transmission method according to a community of subscribers or fans enjoying similar tastes.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an online environment, the demand for digital entertainment is limited by statute in the United States of America under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA, Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, Public Law 105-304). Legitimate providers of online entertainment must adhere to the DMCA and pay license fees for the copyrighted works broadcast over the Internet or other online environment. Otherwise, such providers are liable for copyright infringement.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) addresses protections for copyrighted works transmitted online. The DMCA entitles websites that stream music to a statutory license to perform copyrighted sound recordings as long as they meet certain requirements. Compliance with these requirements by, among other ways: not streaming over a three-hour period, more than three songs or more than two in a row from the same recording, or four songs or more than three in a row from the same recording artist or anthology; and by transmitting songs in a noninteractive format by, for example, not allowing users to specifically create or request programming on demand or to hear programming at designated times. Additionally, compliance with the DMCA requires that advance song or artist playlists not be published.
In an online environment, the content provider may “narrowcast” the data feed to a single individual and still comply with the DMCA even though thousands of individual narrowcast transmissions are made simultaneously. For example, so long as each individual narrowcast does not violate the DMCA, compliance with the DMCA is maintained.
“Narrowcasting” is a term that may be new in the art. As a contrast to “broadcasting” where information is broadcast on a wide basis and generally available to anyone with a tuned receiver, “narrowcasting” arises from the individually addressable data packets used in TCP/IP protocol. The packets are addressed to individual computers and include almost all forms of data transmission over the Internet. Consequently, when broadcasting occurs on the Internet, it is generally composed of a bundle of narrowcast packets as each one must be individually addressed to the computers of the audience. This is true even though several computers are receiving the same content at the same time. Each computer must be individually addressed even though the packets are identical. When demand is high for Internet content such as a live performance or transmission, bandwidth may not be sufficient for all who request transmission.
Due to the nature of Internet communications and TCP/IP protocol, narrowcasting is one of the basic and easy ways in which to transmit information packets. Multicasting may also be used (See Bob Quinn, Killer Network Apps That Aren't Network Killers, Dr. Dobb's Journal October 1997), but has drawbacks due to technical obstacles in effecting a multicast on the open Internet. Other protocols (such as FTP) also exist.
Under the LAUNCHcast™ system (the subject of the 09/709,234 patent application indicated above), each subscriber may “tune” his or her narrowcast by expressing preferences that are recorded and preserved in an account associated with the user/subscriber.
The LAUNCHcast™ system provides a means by which DMCA compliance can be maintained while biasing narrowcast transmissions according to audience/individual preferences. By soliciting, receiving, and recording an individual's preferences regarding (for example) a music data stream, LAUNCH Media, Inc. provides digital audio feed to a subscriber that both complies with the DMCA as well as catering to the individual's musical tastes. If the musical tastes of the individual are limited, additional music may be used to fill in “airtime” or “nettime” that cannot be filled with the individual's favorite songs as such transmission would violate the DMCA. Conversely, an individual with broad tastes could have very few works transmitted in the data stream that fall outside of the individual's tastes.
Very often, people who enjoy one type of music or artist also enjoy other types of music or artists so that an appearance of association between the two occur without an obvious causal link. For example, individuals who enjoy music by Barry Manilow might also enjoy the music of Neil Sedaka in a high percentage that may exceed random statistical occurrence. Consequently, when accompanied by a rating system or engine, individuals who enjoy Barry Manilow might welcome music by Neil Sedaka although they may have never heard music by Neil Sedaka before.
The present invention allows enhancement of narrowcast transmission for the listener's or consumer's enjoyment while maintaining compliance with the DMCA. By associating communities of listeners/consumers around specific artists or genres, subscribers or listeners of an online data stream entertainment service are provided with a more focused and enjoyable experience as the data stream is catered to their preference by using a community bias based upon those who enjoy such artists, an individual artist, genres, or an individual genre.
Note should be taken that the method described herein pertains not only to audio data streams, but any sort of data stream where preferences may be present, including video and multimedia. As entertainment data streams are particularly susceptible to strong personal preferences, the present invention resolves a need for providing dynamic accommodation of expressed preferences in a community of subscribers or listeners while complying with applicable copyright law.